Leaving The Beaten Path

As we begin our path in recovery we need to learn new ways of coping in life without a substance. But there are some things we need to unlearn as well—like the act of beating ourselves up all the time, for example. We have to stop thinking we’re terrible people, especially when we say or do something we wish we wouldn’t have. Sometimes we find it was only our perception of wrongdoing. But even when it’s not, we can use the experience to grow.

It’s common to continue in familiar self-defeating patterns when we first get sober. But when we unlearn certain things—the obsessive thoughts and negative emotions that often caused us to use a drug. New ways of living are uncovered and we begin to see ourselves in a new light. We soon realize we no longer struggle to stay sober, and we no longer struggle to love ourselves.